Estyn, QAA and Medr: our role in the system
Medr, the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, is responsible for funding and regulating the tertiary education and research sector in Wales.
Estyn and QAA are the bodies that carry out inspection or review of providers in the tertiary sectors. There are differences between the two bodies’ approaches, but both draw strongly on providers’ self-evaluation, self-analysis and quality improvement processes.
We believe that, while the processes of self-evaluation that support review and inspection activity may differ in detail, the principles that underpin that activity are shared. We commit to ensuring that our own actions promote effective approaches across the system.
We are mindful of our system leadership role and are aware of the need for our actions to promote positive behaviours in self-evaluation and continuous improvement across the tertiary sectors. Here we include examples of how our actions are intended to support effective self-evaluation processes.
Medr, the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, is responsible for funding and regulating the tertiary education and research sector in Wales. Medr’s strategic plan sets out our ambition to ensure learners receive high-quality provision in a sector that strives for continuous improvement.
As part of our approach, Medr has developed a Quality Framework (Medr, 2026a), structured around a set of pillars that set out guidance on how providers can demonstrate that provision is of good quality and which supports positive learner outcomes. One of these pillars is self-evaluation, recognising the central role of reflective practice and evidence-informed enhancement in the tertiary system.
In this context, Medr views the self-evaluation principles as a tool to support providers in reflecting on their practice, using evidence effectively, and identifying priorities for improvement in a proportionate and developmental way. The principles are intended to align with existing institutional cycles and to minimise unnecessary reporting, with clear and proportionate expectations where additional information is required. Medr will work with the sector and partners to promote self-evaluation and monitoring activities which complement external processes and support a coherent and integrated view of quality. Where evidence is already provided to Estyn, QAA or other bodies, Medr will seek to rely on this wherever appropriate.
We have aligned our annual planning and assurance points with sector cycles wherever possible, so that internal governance, financial planning and quality cycles feed naturally into our processes. Where we do need providers to send something to us, we will minimise reporting requirements as much as we reasonably can, with clear lead-in times for any new expectations.
As a learning organisation, Medr will continue to review and refine its approach in response to sector feedback and emerging evidence, ensuring that self-evaluation supports both accountability and innovation across the tertiary system.
QAA’s review methods place strong emphasis on self-evaluation as a reflection of institutional ownership of quality and enhancement.
- Learner voice is central to QAA’s approach. In Quality Enhancement Reviews (Wales), learner representatives contribute either a separate or a joint self-evaluation with the provider. QAA provides specific, learner focused guidance to support this contribution, a practice commended by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).
- Reflective practice is embedded in QAA’s work as an agency. As an organisation compliant with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG), QAA is required to demonstrate reflection and continuous improvement in its own operations. This includes thematic activity drawing on review insights, and the publication of case studies highlighting effective practice and areas of commendation.
- Commitment to the Welsh language. QAA supports inclusive and context-sensitive self-evaluation and has published the first Welsh language translation of the ESG, as well as guidance on assessing in Welsh. It also actively explores emerging issues for Welsh medium provision, for example through recent work on the implications of generative AI.
- Estyn’s ‘Ready Already!’ campaign aims to offer clarity on expectations and share detail around practical arrangements to support practitioners and leaders across the tertiary sectors. We don’t want providers to over prepare for an inspection visit. The most important thing for our inspection teams is observing what happens on the ground and talking to staff and learners. We don’t want inspection to be overly burdensome, but a positive experience that is a natural part of a provider’s normal improvement practice.
- At the core of Estyn’s inspection process is teaching and learning. Inspectors observe learning wherever it takes place: in classrooms, workshops, community centres, workplaces, online. They speak with teachers about their practice, and with learners about their experiences. They evaluate the standards of learners’ work, whether it is A level history, motor vehicle repairs or adult literacy; and the progress that they make. This first-hand evaluation is triangulated with the provider’s own evaluation and gives a detailed insight into the quality of teaching and learning. The emphasis on teaching and learning helps providers to focus their improvement processes on their impact on the direct experiences of learners.
- Peer inspectors are involved in every Estyn inspection of providers in the tertiary sectors. These are serving practitioners or leaders in the sector, trained by Estyn to take a full part in the inspection. In training and deploying peer inspectors, we aim to bring currency, externality and transparency to the inspection process, and provide opportunities for peer inspectors to develop their skills of evaluation.